Apples, Potatoes and a Fat Lip.

I've started making a working list off of The List (can you tell I am obsessed with lists?) that I can tackle over the weekends.  I mean, some of this stuff HAS to get done!  I am happy to say that I got all but three things done, and one of those was struck off - stop at a feed store for dog treats and canned cat food.  After my mother's remark that Lovey looked "like a loaf of bread", she is on a diet.  And so am I, in solidarity.  I have also decided to cut back on the feral cat food output, by giving them a can of wet food every other day, as opposed to every day with their kibble.  I might change that in the winter, depending on how they seem to be faring.


I weeded a couple of raised beds and pulled the pathetic bean plants.  I also harvested the potatoes.

Binjtes

As with the rest of the garden this year, it was a disappointing harvest.  I do buy my year's supply from a local farm, but there is nothing like growing some of your own to tide you over.  This year I planted only two kinds:  Red Norlands and Bintjes.  I have had a great deal of success with the Red Norlands.  Until this year.  A very small harvest - both in size of the spuds and number of the little devils.  My Bintjes were much better.  This is a potato that I discovered while living in The Netherlands and was thrilled to find organic seed potatoes here.  I probably got a 8:1 ratio of seed potatoes to harvest potatoes ~ yay!


I also got the electric net fence up for the sheep, so that they could graze the hill.  I don't worry too much about them starving - as my mother would say, they are very loaf-shaped.  Linden is very much akin to a blimp on toothpicks.  Since all three are together at all times, it is very difficult to sort out any type of different feeding regimen.  Linden tends to fat (I can feel his pain), while Norman is like a pony and needs more protein.  The llama, of course, needs more than either of them.  I was very lucky to get a call from a neighbor who has an early apple tree that was dropping apples like crazy.  They are in the process of moving out of state, so they wanted to know if I'd like the drops for the animals.  I hotfooted it over and collected two five gallon buckets-worth!  I have been giving them apple treats since then.  Norman, however, will only eat apple peels.  He is an odd duck.


Speaking of apples, on Saturday, Lovey and I whizzed through my errands, stopping at my friend, Marianne's, to drop off eggs.  She, in turn, gave me 12 pounds of an organic, heritage apple called State Fair, and a large bag of gorgeous RIPE tomatoes.  OMG.  On my agenda for Sunday was:  finish washing front of house and applesauce!  I also managed to bake some apple muffins for the barn - a hit, since over half the dozen disappeared in the first five minutes. 


Before venturing into the kitchen on Sunday, I had to run the weed trimmer under the electric netting and get the sheep out.  As I yanked furiously at a stuck gate, it opened.  Fast.


After three hours under an ice cube compress.

I am very thankful that the wire fence missed my face and that all I got was a fat lip from the impact of the PVC frame.  Lovely.


One of the reasons I was looking forward to applesauce-making (other than the finished product) was that I would finally be able to use my birthday present to myself - an apple peeler/corer/slicer!  I had not opened it since I got it at the beginning of the year.  When I did, I learned two things:  Quit being so cheap and there should be a law about seeing the instructions online BEFORE buying a product.

I knew I was in trouble as soon as I laid eyes on the 'instruction' sheet.  It's bad enough every cotton-picking-thing you buy is made in China (my "Cheap" lesson), but for Natssake, couldn't they hire someone who is at least reasonably fluent in English to write the instructions?  You can biggify, but here's the gist:


"III Operation Step:  *Fix (1) to the place as the structure schematic drawing; *Press (15) vigorously on the desktop, turn (14) by left hand (place as the picture show), the whole peeler fixed on the smooth desktop; Press (4), move the screw axis to the home position; *Stuck (15) by (11), let (6) far from the spiral rod, in order to make enough space to install an apple or a pear", etc.  Please note:  Please put the pedicle on the tri-fork when fix the apple, pear. 


Many bad things were said - in English - in the kitchen that morning.  I finally figured it out by trial and error.  I like the process but now hate my peeler.  However, Norman is very happy that he had quite a large bowl of peels - in varying degrees of length, width and depth.  I had, apparently, neglected to put the pedicle on the tri-fork.